Tuesday, November 17

Before J K Rowling there was Enid Blyton, the most prolific writer of children's books ever, with 750 books to her credit. Her books, which include the Famous Five series (21 books), the Secret Seven series (15 books), and Noddy plus many more, have sold over 600 million copies worldwide and been translated into nearly 90 languages and is the fifth most translated author ever.

Enid Blyton was born at 354 Lordship Lane, East Dulwich, London, England, on 11 August 1897. She was the eldest child of Thomas Blyton, a cutlery salesman, and Theresa Harrison. She had two younger brothers, Hanly and Carey. She was educated at St. Christopher's School in Beckenham, being an excellent pupil and leaving as Head Girl.

She had however a strange life in which she appeared to be more interested in her work and her fans than her family and her own children. Over time her books were also surrounded by a certain amount of controversy as they were judged too simple, racist or anti-working class. But you can find out about all that on Wikipedia or http://www.enidblyton.net/. Here I am more concerned with Enid Blyton First Editions.

It has to be said that the prices of First Editions of Enid Blyton's books, given her popularity as a children's author, and the fact that she still sells 8 million copies a year over 40 years after her death, are relatively low.

The most expensive on Abebooks is Five on a Treasure Island published in 1942 by Hodder and Stoughton, which is being offered at a price of £3750 (approx. $6000) by a bookseller in Leicester. This may seem a lot but compare it to the highest priced J K Rowling - Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone - which is on offer for £40,000 ($66,000) and it doesn't seem like so much after all.

It could be that with the recent BBC film about the life of Enid Blyton and the 50th anniversary of her death only 9 years away, that prices will increase so it might be worth a gamble as a long-term punt or an investment for the kids !